Within Essex County Council, responsibility for monitoring and improving the quality of urban and rural development projects falls to the Built Environment team. The skills and expertise that they offer, in areas such as urban design, architecture, landscape architecture, public art, historic buildings and conservation, are utilised by local planning authorities and companies in relation to design and development briefs and the design of new developments within the county. For those seeking further information, the Essex Design Initiative website is an invaluable resource.

 

The Built Environment team operates a consultancy service, designing public spaces and working with districts and local communities to help shape new developments. The team also advises districts on the conservation and maintenance of listed buildings and conservation areas.

 

Guidance documents are available to download free of charge from the Essex Design Initiative website.

 

In addition to their work with architects, developers and councils, the Built Environment team assists with urban and rural redevelopment, identifying funding and resources and supporting the work of local communities to develop new public spaces as well as managing grants for landscape and heritage restoration.

 

The Built Environment Team also delivers a programme of short courses, aimed at improving the traditional building skills required to preserve and sympathetically restore the built heritage of the Essex area.

 

For all information relating to the work of the Built Environment team, the Essex Design Initiative website offers an accessible, one-stop solution